The Washington Redskins Charitable Organization and Diageo have announced the start of the Redskins Safeties Tackle for Safety program, an initiative that donates $100 dollars for each tackle made by a Redskins Safety this year.

The $100 donation is part of the Redskins’ Responsibility is a Team Sport initiative, a program that promotes responsibility by the team and the community. The program is overseen by Ken Harvey, the Pro Bowl linebacker and current Redskins Director of Responsibility. Harvey stated the donations will all go to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, or WRAP.

Specifically, all of the money donated by Diageo to WRAP will be earmarked for the SoberRide initiative, a program founded in 1993 that provides free cab rides during holiday periods where drinking and driving are the most prevalent.

“People are going to have fun in the holidays and they’re going to do things but Diageo’s message is to drink responsibly. If you go out and you have a good time” Harvey said, adding, “then the responsible thing not only for yourself but for someone else on the road, is to get a taxi ride home and if its free, its all that much better.”

One-third of all traffic fatalities in the Washington Metropolitan area are a result of drinking and driving. Diageo, the Redskins and WRAP aim to work together to promote responsibility in drinking in order to fight these tragic, but avoidable incidents.

“People are going to drink. It’s a choice, but there is a responsibility involved with that. If you’re going to drink and you’re going to have a good time, just be responsible. Sometimes you’ve got to know when to say enough is enough, sometimes you’ve got to know when to say, ‘I’m too drunk to drive home, so help me’,” Harvey stated.

This goal of this initiative is not only to raise money for a noble cause, but to raise public awareness that there are options out there for someone that finds themselves in a bar or a club with no business getting behind the wheel.

According to Harvey, the program is going well: “For every tackle that a safety makes, and that’s free or strong safety, it’s $100, and so far, they’ve added up to about $8,500. That’s pretty impressive.”

Editor’s Note: TheHogs.net would like to thank Ken Harvey for taking a few minutes to talk to us about this initiative. We also took the opportunity to discuss other topics pertaining to Harvey himself and the Washington Redskins. Watch the blog section for a full transcript of our conversation.

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